In an indelible moment of this FIBA World Cup, South Sudan earned the nation s first Olympic berth in any sport, doing so with a team filled with refugees and the children of refugees from the war-torn nation.
South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey said his team were "a beam of light" after they qualified for the Paris Olympics on Saturday as the highest-placed African team at the Basketball World Cup.Only 12 teams will take part in the Paris Olympics men's basketball competition, with France qualifying automatically as hosts.
It was a chant that Luol Deng waited years to lead. Deng's vision when he founded the national team about a decade ago was to use basketball as a beacon of hope for his homeland. A struggling country just 12 years removed from gaining its independence making it the youngest nation in the world is headed to the Paris Olympics as the automatic qualifier from Africa. Carlik Jones finished with 26 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, and South Sudan rolled past Angola 101-78 on Saturday in the
It was a chant that Luol Deng waited years to lead. Deng's vision when he founded the national team about a decade ago was to use basketball as a beacon of hope for his homeland. A struggling country just 12 years removed from gaining its independence — making it the youngest nation in the world — is headed to the Paris Olympics as the automatic qualifier from Africa. Carlik Jones finished with 26 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, and South Sudan rolled past Angola 101-78 on Saturday in the final game of the World Cup for both teams.